You call it unadulterated hype; I call it . . .

Do you know how much our government has spent on high-speed rail since Obama took office? Nearly $11 billion. And the fastest train we have averages less than 110 mph. It reaches 150 mph only on a 30 mile stretch of track. And now, Obama has asked for $10 billion more to pour down this sinkhole. And what will we get for our $10 billion more? Don't know -- on the crowded New York-Washington corridor, it will take at least $150 billion and 26 years to get trains up to the Japanese bullet-train speed of 220 mph.

Here's what Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union: "Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail." Think about that. Eighty percent of Americans? That would mean running trains through every little Podunk village in the country.

Transportation experts said that it didn't take an expert to see that was an unrealistic fantasy. Kenneth Orski, the editor and publisher of a transportation newsletter, called Obama's statement "unadulterated hype." I call it a big fat lie.

"High-speed rail going nowhere fast." The Dallas Morning News; August 10, 2014; p. 5A.